Americans think much about time. From children they learn to value(珍惜) time. As children they are taught to be on time to go to school, to work and to do everything. When they are having a good time, they say that time flies. When a person is dying(垂死的) , they say he is living on borrowed time.

    Time is money. Time is knowledge(知识). Time is everything in America. A working American has to work hard for eight hours a day or forty hours a week. This is the working time. In his spare(空闲的) time, he also works hard for more money. Even on Saturday or Sunday he also works hard as usual. In the street you can not see that a man walks slowly. They walk very fast. In fact, they are running. They love time because time can bring them money and a lot of things. But sometimes they also hate time, because they feel that they have become servants(仆人) of the clock.

Reading is a good habit, but the problem is that there's too much to read, and too little time to read every word of it. So ①we need to find good ways to read faster. There are hundreds of skills (技巧) to help you read more in less time. Here are two skills that I think are especially good.

Preview (预看) —if it's long and hard. This skill is especially useful for ideas of heavy reading like long magazine articles (文章) and business reports (报告).

    Here's how the preview goes.

●Read the first two paragraphs (段落) and the last two paragraphs carefully.

●Then read only the first sentence of the other paragraphs.

    This skill doesn't give you all the details (细节, 详情). It stops you spending time on things you don't really want or need to read.

    Skim (略读)—if it's short and simple (简单的). Skimming is a good way to get ideas of light reading like popular magazines or sports and entertainment (娱乐) papers.

    Here's how to skim.

    ●Get your eyes to move fast. Sweep across each line.

    ●Pick up only a few ②key words in each line.

    Everybody skims differently. You and I may not pick up the same words when we skim the same piece, but we'll get a similar (相似的) idea of what it's mainly about.

    Mr. Guo is a teacher from Xi'an. He asked his students to hand in their homework through a QR code(二维码). "We spent an hour or two in class learning how to generate(使产生) the codes, and in the end everything gets easier." Said Guo, "When students finish the homework, they keep it on WeChat. Then, each student makes his own QR code and gives it to me. So I can check their work anywhere using my computer or telephone."

    The QR codes can be sent to Mr. Guo by email, QQ and WeChat. When Guo scans(扫描) his students' QR codes, their homework appears on his phone. He finds that their homework becomes more creative, with many pictures, music and even videos.

    Guo's students like the new way and think it is interesting. "We are living in the information age. Many students like to work with computers, which makes learning more fun." Said Tingting, a student of Guo's. "The paper is not easy to keep, but the code is easy to keep and share." Guo said, "It is worth trying to use new technology in education. Education itself is a kind of creation. I don't want my students to fall behind the times."

    However, some parents are worried. They are afraid that their children will spend too much time on computers and less time communicating with teachers. But in fact, it's unnecessary. Students still need to look up information in books and write it down when they do their homework. They only use the codes when they hand in their work, which doesn't take them too much time. Also for teachers, it allows them to check the students' work at any time. And it's also an easy way to share homework with other students.

    Stephen Hawking was born in England in 1942. He is one of the most well-known scientists on space and time in the world. Hawking is researching how the universe began and how it ends. He is called the King of the Universe.

    When he studied math and science at Oxford University, he became seriously ill, which made him unable to speak or breathe without the help of machines. Till now, he can't move or feed himself and he is helped to dress, eat and wash by a nurse. However, he has a wheelchair with a special computer, with which he can communicate with others.

    In spite of all these difficulties, he refused to give up his hope of living and went on to study at Cambridge University after graduating from Oxford University. In 1965, he got a Doctor's Degree of philosophy(哲学). Because of his serious illness, it was difficult for him to draw diagrams or to write. So he started to think in pictures. With this new way of thinking, he is respected by people in the world. Then in 1988, he wrote his first important book, A Brief History of Time. It has been sold more than 5.5 million copies in 33 different languages. He was once invited to China to give lectures. His self-confidence and humorous conversations impressed us deeply.

    From Hawking's unusual experiences , we learn that nobody should lose hope, no matter how bad the situation is .As he once said," Life is not fair, you just have to do the best you can in your own situation."

    Chinese are very generous when they begin to educate their children. No caring about money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad. They also want their children to take extra-course activities because they think their children may have a good start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend a lot of money on education.

    However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children are skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize is that today's children are lack of(缺乏)self-respect and self-confidence.

    The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever.

    Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. These activities are teaching a child not only to read, but also to think. And that is more important.